Onus on govt to create an 'effective' Lokpal

The all-party meet on Lokpal that took place on Sunday in the Capital has put the central government in a precarious position. The one-line resolution, 'the all-party meeting agreed that government should bring before the next session of Parliament a strong and effective Lokpal Bill following the established procedures' has people reading between the lines and coming up with myriad interpretations. But most agree that other parties have put the obligation on the UPA government to come up with an 'effective' Lokpal.


UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, PM Manmohan Singh and Finance
Minister Pranab Mukherjee at the all-party meet. PIC/Imtiyaz Khan

Troublesome task
The first sign of trouble is one of the coalition partners advocating that the prime minister should also be put in the ambit of public scrutiny in the form of Lokpal. Not just the PM, DMK even wanted higher judiciary to be brought under it. Only AIADMK was of the view that bringing the prime minister within the ambit of Lokpal would encourage frivolous complaints and derail the process.

At the three-hour meeting at the residence of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, there were differences on various provisions of the proposed legislation with a number of small parties including AGP, INLD, TDP and CPI(M) favouring inclusion of PM within the ambit of Lokpal but not higher judiciary.

It's a secret!
BJP has so far kept the cards on the issue close to its chest and Sunday was no different. They declined to specify their views on the major points like inclusion of PM, higher judiciary and conduct of MPs inside Parliament. The party had serious differences over the draft prepared by the five ministers of the joint drafting committee with regard to jurisdiction and process of selection and removal of the Lokpal. Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj said, "We clearly stated that BJP wants a strong and effective Lokpal who is selected transparently and be able to function independently." Earlier, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the government was committed to bringing a bill that will provide for 'strong and effective way to tackle corruption in high places' but such an institution will have to work within the framework of Constitution.